chinnanjiru kiliye kannama

7:03 PM Posted by Vijayasri

'Chinnanjiru Kiliye kannama' is one of my favourite of all the songs by the tamil poet Subramanya Bharathiar.
Bharathiyar, when he composed all his kavithaigal dedicated it to his wife 'Chellamma'.
This particular song is titled Kannamma-My child: Imagining Parasakthi as a child he describes her qualities, her moods etc. The bharathanatyam dancers have given it a twist, in that they have created an illusion that it describes the playfulness of Baby Krishna.

Bharathiyar was a great upasakar of Parasakthi, and I believe his inspiration to write these poems was his wife.

A beautiful song with a deep meaning; a song for all who have little daughters.

Song : Chinnan siru kiLiyE
rAgam: raagamaalika
taaLam: thisram
Composer: Subrahmanya Bhaaratiyaar
Language: Tamil

1 raagam: kaapi

22 kharaharapriya janya
Aa: S R2 M1 P N3 S
Av: S N2 D2 N2 P M1 G2 R2 S

chinnam shirukkiLiyE kaNNammA shelvak-kaLanjiyamE
ennaik-kali tIrttE ulagil Etram puriya vandAi

2

piLLaik-kaniyamudE kaNNammA pEshum por-chittiramE
aLLi aNaittiDavE en munnE Adi varum tEnE

3 raagam: maanD

29 shankaraabharaNam janya
Aa: S G3 M1 P D2 S
Av: S N3 D2 P M1 G3 R2 S

Odi varugaiyilE kaNNammA uLLam kuLirudaDi
Adit-thiridal kaNDAl unnaip-pOi Avi tazhuvudaDI
aaDi tiridal kaNDaal unnai poi aavi tazhuvudaDi

4 raagam: vasantaa

17 sooryakaantam janya
Aa: S M1 G3 M1 D2 N3 S
Av: S N3 D2 M1 G3 R1 S

uchi thanai mughandAl garuvam Ongi vaLarudaDi
mechi unnai oorAr pugazhndAl mEni silirkkudaDI

5 raagam: tilang

28 harikaambhOji, 30 naaganandini janya
Aa: S G3 M1 P N3 S
Av: S N2 P M1 G3 S

kannathil muthamiTTAl uLLam tAn kaL veri koLLudaDi
unnait-tazhuviDivO kaNnammA un mattamAgudaDI

6 raagam: hindOLam

20 naTabhairavi janya
Aa: S G2 M1 D1 N2 S
Av: S N2 D1 M1 G2 S

shaTru mukham shivandAl manadu sancalamAgudaDi
neTri shurungak-kaNDAl enakku nenjam padaikkudaDI

7 raagam: neelamaNi

27 sarasaangi janya
Aa: S R2 M1 P D1 N3 S
Av: S N3 D1 P M1 R2 S

un kaNNil nIr vazhindAl ennenjil udiram koTTudaDi
en kaNNin pAvaiyenrO kaNNammA ennuyir ninnadanrO

8 raagam: neelaambari

29 dheera shankaraabharaNam janya
Aa: S R2 G3 M1 P D2 P N3 S
Av: S N3 P M1 G3 R2 G3 S

shollum mazhalaiyilE kaNNammA tunbangaL tIrttiDuvAi
mullai shirippAlE enadu mUrkham tavirttiDuvAi

9 raagam: valaci

16 cakravaakam janya
Aa: S G3 P D2 N2 S
Av: S N2 D2 P G3 S

inbak-kadaigaLellAm unnaip-pOl EdugaL sholvaduNDO
anbu taruvadilE unainEr AghumOr deivamuNDO

10 raagam: madyamaavati

22 kharaharapriya janya
Aa: S R2 M1 P N2 S
Av: S N2 P M1 R2 S

mArbilaNivadarkkE unnaippOl vaira maNigaLuNDO
shIr peTru vAzhvadarkkE unnaippOl shelvam peridumuNDO

(cinnanjiru)

Word by Word Meaning of chinnachiru kiliye kannama song

chinnam shirukkiLiyE kaNNammA shelvak-kaLanjiyamE

Cinnam shiru = Small / very Little / Petite
kiLiyE = Parrot
KaNNammA = dear, or a common South Indian female name (Bharthi alluded to this name quite a lot)
shelvak-kaLanjiyamE - A bountiful Treasure

My Petite Parrot, My Bountiful Treasure

ennaik-kali tIrttE ulagil Etram puriya vandAi

Ennaik - For me
kali - Happiness
tIrttE - make whole, fulfill
ulagil - In the World
Etram - Progress / forward
puriya - do / doing
vandai - came

My Wholesome Happiness, You came to create progress in this world

2 piLLaik-kaniyamudE kaNNammA pEshum por-chittiramE

piLLai - Child
kaniyamudE - Fruit dipped in Nectar
kaNNammA - a common South Indian female name
pEshum - to speak / speaking
por - Golden
chittiramE - painting

My Child-like, fruit dipped nectar, my speaking golden portrait

aLLi aNaittiDavE en munnE Adi varum tEnE

aLLi - to grab with passion
aNaittiDaVE - to hug with passion, enthusiasm
en - My / Mine
munnE - in front
Adi - Dancing / moving with grace
varum - come / came
tEnE - Honey

You come before me so gracefully that I feel like hugging you with passion

3 Odi varugaiyilE kaNNammA uLLam kuLirudaDi

Odi - Running
varugaiyilE - coming / came
kaNNammA - dear, a common South Indian female name
uLLam - Heart
kuLirudaDi - Cooled / Cooling

When you come running towards me, my heart chills

Adit-tiridal kaNDAl unnaip-pOi Avi tazhuvudaDI

Adit-tiridal - Dance around with merriness
kaNDAl - To See
unnaip-pOi - Come near you
Avi tazhuvudaDI - My soul hugs you

When I see you dancing with merriness, my soul hugs you

4 ucci tanai mughandAl garuvam Ongi vaLarudaDi

Ucci - Top of forehead
Tanai - That part (as in that part of the forehead)
mughandal - Kiss lightly, smell
garuvam - Proud
Ongi - Strong
ValarudaDi - Grows

When I smell the top of your head, I feel strongly proud

mecci unnai yAr pugazhndAl mEni shilirkkudaDI

mecci - To praise with sincerely
Unnai - you
Yar - whomever
pugazhndal - praise
mEni - skin
shilirkkudaDI - tingles (goose bumps)

If I hear someone praise you with sincerety, my skin tingles with excitement

5 kannattil muttamiTTAn uLLam tAn kaL veri koLLudaDi

kannattil - Cheeks
muttamiTTan - Kissed
uLLam tAn - Heart
kAL - liquor
veri - berserk
koLLudaDi - state of

if I kiss you on your cheeks, my heart goes beserk as if it is drunk with liquor

unnait-tazhuviDivO kaNnammA un mattamArudaDI

unnai - you
unnait-tazhuviDivO - Hug with passion
kaNnammA - dear, or a common South Indian female name
un mattamArudaDI - blissful happiness

If I hug you with passion, I feel a blissful happiness

6 shaTru mukham shivandAl manadu sancalamAgudaDi

ShaTru - momentarily
mukham - face
shivandAl - redness (as in became red with embarassment, discomfort, worry)
manadu - heart
sancalamagudaDi - disturbed (as in I'm disturbed)

If your face turns to discomfort, even momentarily, my heart is disturbed

neTri shurungak-kaNDAl enakku nenjam padaikkudaDI

neTri - Forehead
Shurungak - shrunk (as in wrinkled forehead)
kanDal - See
enakku - me / mine
nenjam - Heart
padaikkudadi - flutter with fear

When I see your forehead wrinkle, my heart flutters with fear...

7 un kaNNil nIr vazhindAl ennenjil udiram koTTudaDi

un - Your
Kannil - Eyes
Nir - Water (as in cry)
ennenjil - My Heart
udiram - Blood
KoTTudaDi - pours

If I even see small droplets of tears in your eyes, a whole river of blood flows in my heart

en kaNNin pAvaiyenrO kaNNammA ennuyir ninradanrO

en - me / mine
KaNNin - eyes
Pavaiyenro - girl / light
KannAmma - dear, a common South Indian female name
ennuyir - It is actually En Uyir - My Soul / My Life
ninradanro - is yours

(because) You're the light of my eyes, my life is yours

8 shollum mazhalaiyilE kaNNammA tunbangaL tIrttiDuvAi

shollum - Speaking (as in words)
mazhalaiyile - child like mumblings
kannamma - dear, or a common South Indian female name
tunbangal - misery / sorrow / worries
tIrttiDuvAi - cure (as in you will cure)

In your child-like speaking, you'll cure all my worries/misery

mullai shirippAlE enadu mUrkham tavirttiDuvAi

mullai - Jasmine flower, small, guileless
Shirippale - Smile
Enadu - Mine / my
murkham - ignorance (as in stupidity)
tavirttiduvai - avoid / avoidance

In your innocent smile, you'll cure me of my ignorance

9 inbak-kadaigaLellAm unnaip-pOl EdugaL sholvaduNDO

inbak-kadaigaLellAm - Happy stories
unnaip-pOl - Like you
EdugaL - Pages (as in pages of a book)
sholvaduNDO - Tell

Can you even be described in pages and pages of Happy stories?

anbu taruvadilE unainEr AghumOr deivamuNDO

anbu - Love
taruvadile - Giving
unainEr AghumOr - Wonderful, combination / play on words -- means, nigar - (as in equal to you)
deivamundo - God (as in is there a God equal to you)

In sharing Love, can even a God equal you?

10 mArbilaNivadarkkE unnaippOl vaira maNigaLuNDO

mArbil - Chest (as in over the chest)
AniVadarKke - wear ( as in wear over the chest)
unnaipol - like you
vaira - Diamonds / precious stones
manigal - Precious stones
Undo - Is there?

To wear on the chest, are there even diamonds/pearls like you?

shIr peTru vAzhvadarkkE unnaippOl shelvam piridumuNDO (cinnanjiru)

ShIr - Prosperity
Petru - Got (as in get prosperous)
vazhvadarkke - live
unnaipol - like you
shelvam - Treasure (large sum of bounty)
Peridu - Large
Undo - Is there?

Is there even a larger treasure than you in my life? i.e. You're the most prosperous treasure in my life.

A video of Nithyasree Mahadevan and Sudha Ragunathan rendering the Bharathiar Song 'chinnanjiru kiliye kannamma'.